The Adventures of Cloudclan 001
by SkyWaterfire02
Summary: The cats of the wild have joined to create Cloudclan. They have so few cats, and few warriors to defend the clan. In the first adventure, foxes threaten every cat's life. Will the clan be destroyed before it begins?
1. Chapter 1

The Adventures of Cloudclan 001

In the heart of a deep, deep forest, there lives a great clan of cats. These cats are noble, fearless, and loyal. They will fight to the death to defend their clan. And in times of trouble, they call upon Starclan, the clan of great cat spirits, to help them. This is Cloudclan.

Rosepetal crept to the middle of camp, which was surrounded by all of the dens: The leader's den, the medicine cat's den, the apprentices den, the warriors den, the nursery, and the elders den. Rosepetal called all the warriors and apprentices out of their dens. Ivyblaze lapped her red-brown fur and came out of her den. Rosepetal's apprentice Gingerpaw came out, along with Vixenstep and Waterpaw. Soon, everyone was outside.

"Alright, time to start patrols," Rosepetal announced. "Vixenstep and Gingerpaw, you'll come with me on a hunting patrol. Ivyblaze, Tulippaw, and Waterpaw, you'll go on border patrol. Afterwards, training sessions."

Everyone left to their duties. Ivyblaze took her apprentice and Tulippaw on patrol, where they searched the borders for anything dangerous. To some cats, one warrior and two apprentices might not seem like much of a patrol, but Cloudclan was still only a new clan. They only had so many apprentices and warriors. Ivyblaze didn't think this meant that they were weak, but she was still nervous on patrol and kept her ears pricked. Meanwhile, Tulippaw and Waterpaw were talking about one thing and another. Ivyblaze turned and hissed at them.

"Quiet," she hissed. "You're making enough noise to let anything in earshot know we're here. This is a border patrol, not a chat session. If I hear another word out of either of you, I'll have you both cleaning Moonshine's den."

Tulippaw hung her head.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Why do we even need to go on these stupid border patrols?" moaned Waterpaw. "Nothing ever attacks our clan." Ivyblaze sighed.

"Because," she said. "We can't afford to take risks. We have to be on our guard at all times. Now be quiet and keep moving."

When they reached a nearby lake, Ivyblaze suddenly noticed a strange smell. She stopped, and recognized it all too well. She turned to Waterpaw. "Waterpaw, can you tell me what this smell is?"

Waterpaw stopped to think. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "It's a fox!" Ivyblaze nodded. Waterpaw, who had been happy that she was right, was instantly horrified. "Wait, it's a fox?" she whimpered.

"A fox?" Tulippaw repeated, horrified. Tulippaw and Waterpaw had heard awful tales about foxes eating cats as kits, and were horrified to meet one in real life.

"We've got to track down the fox," Ivyblaze said.

"Shouldn't we just go back to camp to report to Sunstar?" suggested Tulippaw, who had no intentions of meeting a fox. Ivyblaze shook her head.

"We can't leave a trail for that fox leading to our camp. Let's move."

As they traveled further down the shore of the lake, Ivyblaze noticed the scent was getting stronger and stronger. Soon it became so strong that it urged Ivyblaze to stop. Usually, scents were only this strong when a breeze carried it. But this time, there was not even the slightest wind. Ivyblaze knew this meant that the fox was very close. Too close for comfort. She turned to the apprentices. "Apprentices, we need to-" Ivyblaze was quickly cut off by a flash of red fur knocking her into the lake. She scrambled to her paws and turned around to face a cat's worst enemy: fox. Waterpaw and Tulippaw shrieked as the fox tore Ivyblaze's black-tipped ears. Waterpaw made as if to fight the fox. "Stay back!" Ivyblaze hissed at Waterpaw. She couldn't allow them to fight the fox, as they had no idea how. Ivyblaze kicked the fox into the lake. The fox, quickly recovering, turned and snarled at her, revealing its sharp teeth. Ivyblaze froze. There was no way she could take on the fox herself. It took at least two well-trained warriors to fight a fox, if not three. Ivyblaze lifted her head and silently prayed for Starclan to send help. Someone, anyone.

Starclan must've heard her prayers, because just then a battle cry tore through the air. Rosepetal and Vixenstep from the hunting patrol flew straight at the fox. Gingerpaw joined the other apprentices and watched. The three warriors slashed at the fox's flank, screeching. Finally, the whimpering fox retreated back into the forest.

"Thank you so much for saving us," mewed Ivyblaze. "I thought we were crow-food for sure!"

"We could hear your cries all the way where we were hunting," said Vixenstep.

"You scared off the vole I was about to catch!" added Gingerpaw. Rosepetal flicked her apprentice's ears with her tail.

"We should get back to camp before anything else happens," she said. And through the woods they flew.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at camp, Moonshine and Cloverpelt were busy sorting through herbs. Sunstar, who had just returned from hunting, was ravenously munching on a bird's wing. Just then, the patrol cats burst into camp. The three warriors were bleeding.

"What happened?" Sunstar demanded.

"A fox attacked the border patrol, and we fought it off," Rosepetal answered. Moonshine, the medicine cat, rushed out of her den. Her amber eyes, which constrasted her silver-blue fur, flashed with concern.

"I heard someone say 'fox'. Is anyone bleeding? Does anyone need cobweb? Oh, I sure hope no one's infected!"

"Calm down Moonshine, let them finish," Cloverpelt cut in.

"We'll just need a bit of cobweb for our scrapes to stop the bleeding," called out Ivyblaze. Nodding, Moonshine went back into her den to prepare the herbs. Sunstar began to pace.

"Where there's one fox, there could be more," she stated, her gray eyes sparking with worry. She stopped and said, "We'll need to start fox attack training." Vixenstep came out of the medicine cat's den, her scrapes covered with a fresh poultice Moonshine had made.

"When will we start training?" She asked.

"Right now," Sunstar replied. "The sooner, the better."

Later that day, when all the apprentices were gathered at the training center, Ivyblaze began the lesson.

"Whenever you fight a fox, you should remember that foxes are much bigger and stronger then you and you need to keep you wits about you. Foxes are quite vicious, and they will kill a cat for no reason. They've even been known to eat cats your size." Some of the apprentices gasped. "Don't worry," Ivyblaze continued. "You'll always have others to help you."

"The thing to remember when you fight a fox," added Vixenstep. "Is that you avoid its jaws at all times. A foxes jaws are very powerful, and one bite can kill you." Tulippaw shuddered at the idea of being killed or eaten by a fox.

"Let's pretend I'm a fox invading the camp," suggested Rosepetal. "Who's first to fight me?" Gingerpaw was the first to volunteer. She flattened her ears and hissed. Ivyblaze was impressed. The little apprentice really knew how to make herself dangerous. Gingerpaw lunged at Rosepetal. Rosepetal neatly side-stepped and sent Gingerpaw slamming into a tree. Rosepetal padded over and bit her scruff. "And now I will drag you off to my den and eat you." Gingerpaw sighed and stood up, shaking out her ginger, black-striped fur. At first, the apprentices made a pitiful show (Gingerpaw kept slamming into trees,) but after a bit of extra practice each apprentice felt confident that they could fight ten foxes and walk away with barely a scratch. This was a good thing, because they would need their skills sooner than they thought.


	3. Chapter 3

The next sunrise, Moonshine had asked Tulippaw to help her collect herbs, as Cloverpelt couldn't help because she was busy sorting herbs. They padded over to a nearby stream. Moonshine began poking her nose into some flowers.

"This is feverfew," she said. "Good for-"

"Fevers," Tulippaw answered. "I guessed because it was in the name."

"That's right," said Moonshine. "This is a very valuable herb. We'll need a good supply of this." Tulippaw sighed.

"Sometimes I wish I was a medicine cat," she said. Moonshine pricked her silver-tipped ears.

"Really?" she asked.

"I-I just feel that I'm not cut out to be a warrior," explained Tulippaw. "I can't stand the idea of fighting anything, and I'll just get scared when we go into battle."

"I can understand how you feel," said Moonshine. "Medicine cats prefer to heal, not harm. But remember, you're only an apprentice. You've got a lot to learn still. And in time I'm sure you'll become a great warrior."

"I guess," sighed Tulippaw. When the two cats decided they'd gathered enough herbs, they began to head back to their camp. Suddenly, an all-too-familiar scent caught Tulippaw's nose. She froze in horror.

"Moonshine, she hissed. "I think there's a fox nearby." Moonshine stopped.

"Great Starclan, you're right!" She exclaimed. "The scent of these herbs was so strong that I didn't even notice! Come on, we'd better hurry back before-"

It was too late to flee. Just as Moonshine spoke, a fox jumped out from a pile of ferns. Tulippaw instantly remembered this fox as the one who had attacked her the other day. The fox's glittering amber eyes darted from Tulippaw to Moonshine, clearly deciding which cat to execute first. Tulippaw ran away, expecting to hear Moonshine's paw steps with hers. But Moonshine stood still. Tulippaw called back to her.

"Moonshine," she cried. "What are you doing? Run away!"

"A warrior does not run away," Moonshine hissed. "A warrior stands and fights!"

"But you're not a warrior!" Tulippaw called. "You're a medicine cat!"

"Just because I'm a medicine cat doesn't mean I can't fight!" Moonshine shrieked. And with that, she clawed the fox's muzzle. The now infuriated fox growled and snapped its huge jaws at her. Tulippaw froze. She knew she was supposed to help, but fear kept her paws rooted to the ground. It had taken three fully trained warriors to fight one fox. How in the name of Starclan was an apprentice and a medicine cat supposed to battle a fox and walk away still in one piece? "Tulippaw," Moonshine screeched. "Don't just stand there. Help me!" Tulippaw shook away her fears and lunged at the fox, biting its leg. The fox yelped in pain and kicked her away. Tulippaw turned and kept fighting, always avoiding the jaws.  
Somehow, miraculously, the two defeated the fox. But then again, despite being a medicine cat, Moonshine was a vicious fighter. The fox stumbled to the ground, whimpering. Moonshine flattened her ears and bared her teeth.

"Are you finished yet, fox?" snarled Moonshine. Tulippaw picked up her feverfew.

"Let's go, Moonshine," she said. Moonshine turned and made as if to leave. Just then, the fox lifted its head and yowled. The pair of cats stopped and turned around.

"W-w-what's it doing?" asked Tulippaw. Just then, two more foxes leapt into the clearing. Tulippaw gulped. Maybe they could fight one fox, but three foxes?

"You wanna fight now?" whimpered Tulippaw.

"No," cried Moonshine. "Run. Run, run, run!" The two cats ran into the forest. Never before had they run so fast in their lives.

"What about the feverfew?" called Tulippaw, for of course they had abandoned their herbs.

"Leave it!" Moonshine snapped. "We'll come back for it at sunhigh!"

"If we're alive at sunhigh!" shrieked Tulippaw. Moonshine led them through the trickiest route to camp, over the rocks on rivers, through bramble thickets, even in tunnels, desperately hoping to lose the foxes. But the foxes followed them through every trail. Clearly, these foxes were desperate to catch them. As they neared the camp, a horrible thought struck Tulippaw like a lightning bolt.

"Moonshine," she wailed. "We can't lead three foxes straight into our camp! Waterpaw and Gingerpaw are training there! They'd be an easy catch for a fox!"

"We have no choice," replied Moonshine. "Just keep running!"


	4. Chapter 4

They ran into the camp, screaming "Fox! Fox!" The foxes followed them into the camp, pleased they'd found a place surrounded by cats. Sunstar and Rosepetal screeched, calling for the clan to attack. Soon, all of Cloudclan began to attack the foxes.

"Remember what we taught you!" Vixenstep called to the apprentices. Just as she spoke, one of the foxes broke away from the mad, screeching mob of cats and pinned Gingerpaw to the ground, its jaws clamped around her neck. She uttered a cry.

"Help…me…" Tulippaw turned around, horrified at the sight of her friend being killed by a fox. Her fear was replaced by strength. She knew she had to be strong for her clan. Tulippaw hurled straight into the fox's flank, sending it straight into a tree. This knocked a bee's nest off of a limb and straight onto the fox's head. As the bees stung the fox, the fox whimpered and pawed away, with the nest still on its head.

"Ha! Who's slamming into trees now, fox?" meowed Gingerpaw, standing up with a show of bravado. With their partner gone, the two remaining foxes, sensing that they were clearly defeated, retreated back into the woods.

"And don't come back!" Vixenstep called after them.

"Oh don't worry, they won't," Rosepetal stated reassuringly.

All of a sudden, Moonshine and Cloverpelt flew out of the medicine cat's den, each with a mouthful of herbs.

"Who's hurt? I have cobwebs for bleeding and burdock root, oak leaves, and marigold if anyone's infected."

"We're all scratched up," Ivyblaze replied. "But Gingerpaw has the worst injuries."

"Gingerpaw's hurt?" called Waterpaw. She rushed over to Gingerpaw and started showering her with questions. "What happened? Did you fight the fox? Did it fight you? Did you see Starclan? Did you _die?_"

"Back away, give her some room to breathe," Moonshine chided. While Gingerpaw complained as the medicine cats fussed over her wounds with herbs, Sunstar climbed up to the Highrock to make an announcement.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!" Sunstar's silver eyes glittered as her clanmates gathered. "Today, even though we are a new clan, we won a great battle." Sunstar's voice rang throughout the camp. "We won because we are a clan worth fighting for," Sunstar continued. "And we will continue to be a great clan until the grass turns to dust and the forest is no more!" All the cats yowled in agreement. Sunstar lifted her head to the sky. The stars shone more brightly than ever, showing Starclan's approval. All was well in Cloudclan, if only for the moment. But that was only the beginning of their story…


End file.
